Was He the Man ?

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10220, 22 April 1911, Page 2

Was He the Man ?

OUR SERIAL.

BY F. L. OACRE, o Author of "A Phantom of th© Past," "Tronholme's Trust," "The 3 " Doctor's Secret," "A Loveless Marriage, "Sir John's Heiress," etc.

CHAPTER XVll.—'Continued

They were liotli powerful men, and each knew that ho was struggling for his life.

I 1 watched them writhing and sway- ' mg from sido to side whilo cash stro\ o lld hurl tin other to the ground. Not r, word was spoken. They had 110 : breath to spare lor 1 hat; and as for mo, I possessed onl >• tha faculties of sight and hearing. I could neither speak nor move. Gradually Robson seemed to get the better'of Hareoort. and forced him inch by inch toward tho parapet. By a de.spor.ico effort" ho drove 'inn backward ap;.iirst it, and, graspi.ig the lower part of his thigh, fairly lifted him onto it. Harcourt had clasped his arms r< und Ilobson, or.o under his left shoulder, the other under his i;ight arm. I could see that his two hands gripped his wrists over Robson's back, and that Robson writhed in vain to freo himself.

to a most complicated case by doing so. Do not ask mo to explain now, as you will only give m? the pain of„ refusing your ;request. All in good time." I repressed my rising curiosity, aiid asked instead how lie proposed to act upon his belief in my story. "It is difficult to say," he replied, "i have no doubt that Burton is at this moment lying in the waters of the Thames, still holding in his embrace the scoundrel who has cheated j the guillotine. But the Thames is long, and wide, and deep. How are the bodies to be found? It may be weeks, before they are discovered by the ordinary means.''

'What do you mean by ordinary means P" I asked. "Are there any other means to he tried that are 1 not ordinary?" -

Harcourt was now half-sitting, half Ivir.g on the top of the para*;i't. while Ilobson. was strhin'f fiercely !■> keep h\s balance, and tl'.mst tho 'de;octi<--e downward o(T tho wall. Inch I y inch Haicourt'? "body sir;!: but jo effort could 100.-.o tho desperate clasp of his arm:; round his adversary's shoulder. The lower he sank the harder it became for Robson to keep his feet on the pathway. He wriggled and writhed to v rench himself free and let the detective fall into the dark water that was swirling and eddying round tho piers of the bridge thirty feet below.

.. "There are," replied Morel, quietly relighting his pipe. "If there were not, may I ask how you "became acquainted with the details of the story you have just told me?" "And you really take those details seriously?"

"So seriously that I mean to act upon them as circumstantial evidence. Have you this morning's paper?"

- handed the Times across the table to him.

"It was high water this morning at five o'clock. You see 011© detail, the rising tide, is already proved correct. Now, Mr Grey, with your permission, I am going to take a liberty with you." ( ,

I assented, and the Frenchman went on:

Ho struck him savagely on the face, and chest with his fists, but all to lio avail. Tighter and tighter closed tho deadly embrace that was dragging him down to death. As Harcourt swung clear of the parapet, and Robson had his whole weight to bear, his feet rose from tho footway. With a last, despairing effort ho bent his body double, and drove his knees under tho coping.. This stayed him for a minute, and his body then turned slowly over, and ho hung for two or three seconds by. his knees, his face downward over the black water, cheek to cheek with the man whoso weight he was/now sustaining with his bent knees over the coping.

Then his body slowly straightened, and his legs slid upwards inch by inch.

"Are you quite certain that your vision, as we will call it, ceased at the time Burton and Rob son fell from the bridge ?" ' "Yes," I replied. "I'heard the clock of Chelsea Church, as I fancied, striko three —no doubt it was my own church I heard, mid then I became unconscious of anything further." "Nevertheless, you must tell m» more, for you know more," rejoined Morel, in quick, determined tones. I looked up In astonishment at the ■strange words, and saw his deep,, black eyes gazing at me as though tliey would piereo to the inmost recesses of my brain. Our eyes met, and instantly mine were held by the force of some irresistible magnetism that they possessed. ' Then he slowlyrose to his feet* and 'leaned over the table toward me, till his buming eyes shone directly into mine.

His feet caught for a moment, and a loud splash in tho black gulf below toid,.me of the last scene. >.

I could see nothing in the water. The fog and darkness were too thick for. that, but up from the dark arch there came for a moment long, deep, gurgling sighs, and then the tide swept the drowning men up stream, and I 'heard only the lapping of invisible waters against the buttress.

Some subtle influence held me without the power of speech, I felt my will wandering again, and my .muscles growing rigid as I sat in my chair. For a moment I saw nothing but two dark, gleaming eyeballs glaring into mine. I struggled to close my eyes, but could not. Then, in an instant, all became dark, and .1 became insensible. >

The clock of Old Chelsea- Church chimed three, and with the last stroke my eyee closed, and I sank back upon my pillow into a sudden and profound* £leep. I woke soon after eight, greatly refreshed, but with a viyid recollection of the hideous experience of the past night. As soon as I""was dressed, my first act was to telephone to Morel to oome to me ,and my second, was to write an account of my vision, or whatever it was.

When I recovered Morel was just removing his hands from my temples,! He gave me a cup of coffee, and expressed the hope tliat I felt none- the worse for what he had taken the great liberty of doing. , "What is the matter?" I asked, passing my hand over my forehead. "Have I fainted ,or what 1 was ifc ?"•' "Put it .that way, if, you, please," Morel said, with a.smile. "Yes, you have :'b&en unconscious for a few minutes—that is, y-oq recollect nothing."

CHAPTER XVIII. THE RESULT OF A TRANCE. I had scarcely finished my breakfast when Morel was announced. Among all the puzzles with which we were surrounded, I found no more inexplicable enigma than the French detective. Never for a moment losing his self-possession and unvarying politeness, never at a loss, neither in word nor deed, and never to be taken by surprise, he was the last man whom one would have expected to deviate from the beaten track of purely practical affairs. •When I began, to -tell him why I had sent for him, I quite expected that he would receive all I had to say with polite, but complete incredulity. But, so far from that, had; I been relating an actual occurrence, he could not have listened more intently, or with more apparent belief. "My dear sir," he said in reply, "you will perhaps be more surprised when I tell you that I firmly believe that what you have described to me actually took place at the time you state. I have my own theory as to these strange experiences, the second of which you have now relaeed. One day," he added, when all is over, I will perhaps try to explain them according to my belief. At present I should; only add more complioatiofns

' ; Recollect ? What should I recollect?"! asked in utter bewilderment; '"You.liave just given me minute directions as toLwhere the bodies are to ibe found," replied the Frenchman, ignoring my ■questions; "and I have made this sketch after your description. Have you ama pof the Thames so that we can fix the exact sfpot " More mystified than ever I took from my bookcas? a large folded map of the river, and spread it out before him. In doing so I caught sight of the sketch he had made. I picked, it up,' examined it for a moment, an : said: "There is no need to compare with the map, I know the Thames pretty accurately, and this, however you have drawn it, is a very good sketch of the river just, at Chiswick Eyot. What is this cross at the upper end of the island for?" "That serves a very useful purpose," the Frenchman said, leaning over the map. 'Here is the place. So now, Mr Grey, you may take my word for it that I have never seen this part of the Thames in my life, and yet you see that I have made the sketch, so that you at onoe re-' cognised it. And that cross marks the spot where the bodies of Burton and IRobson are at this moment lying."